Determination of cadmium, lead, and copper in margarines and butters by galvanostatic stripping chronopotentiometry

A galvanostatic stripping chronopotentiometric (GSCP) method for the simultaneous determination of cadmium, lead, and copper in commercial margarines and butters is described. Quantitative analyses of heavy metals in the mineralized fat samples, except standard addition method, were carried out automatically. The mean concentrations of Cd(II), Pb(II), and Cu(II) in different types of margarines and butters varied from 9.1 to 26.2, 9.2-14.2, 298.2-364.0 microg x kg(-)(1), respectively, that is below the legal requirements. The detection limits are 0.02, 0.02, and 0.06 microg x L(-)(1) for Cd(II), Pb(II) and Cu(II), while the reproducibilities are 3.3, 5.7, and 2.0%, respectively. The comparable precision (RSD = 0.76-4.5 and 0.87-4.9%) and recovery (96.7-102.2% and 96.1-103.2%) for the proposed GSCP and standard GFAAS methods, demonstrate the benefit of GSCP method in the routine analysis of heavy metal ions in fats.     

Characterization of the organic matter in sediments of the Great War Island (Belgrade,Serbia)

Journal of Soils and Sediments - The Great War Island (GWI) is a landform of exceptional features and a protected area located in the center of Belgrade at the Sava and Danube River’s...     

Ultrastructure of the sporocysts of Eurytrema coelomaticum (Giard Et Billet, 1892) Looss, 1907

The digenetic trematode Eurytrema coelomaticum is a parasite of pancreatic ducts of ruminants. The ultrastructure of the mother and daughter sporocysts of E. coelomaticum was analyzed. The mother sporocyst was attached to the coelome of the intestine wall of intermediate snail host Bradybaena similaris, intimately adhered in some regions. It presents a highly folded tegument with granules and the body wall was composed by an outer syncitial layer, basal lamina, and circular and longitudinal muscle layer. Below was the cell body (cyton) with the nucleus. The daughter sporocysts obtained by dissection exhibited many granules and secretory vesicle in the outer layer indicating an intense secretory activity. The body wall presented the same layers of the mother sporocysts, but the outer syncitial layer invaginated and an amorphous layer was present between the syncitial and circular muscle layers. The protonephridial excretory system was viewed. The anterior and posterior end of the expelled sporocyst exhibit a degenerated structure, but biological activity still occurred in these regions. The swollen middle of the body was filled by a lamellar structure formed by degenerating membranes, but the excretory system was preserved. The endocyst wall was fibrilar and filled by cercariae and amorphous, membranous and secretory material inside it. These results were discussed.     

Effects of tourism-related provisioning on the trophic signatures and movement patterns of an apex predator, the Caribbean reef shark

Wildlife provisioning, i.e. the provision of bait to generate aggregations of charismatic megafauna as tourist attractions, occurs around the world. This practice is often promoted as an economic incentive to conserve the focal species, yet has stimulated debate based on the potential for risks to human safety and perceptions of behavioural shifts in provisioned populations. We studied a population of Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi) in the Bahamas that has been subject to regular provisioning for >20 years. We used a combination of focal observations of sharks during feeding events, remote acoustic telemetry and stable isotope analysis of shark muscle tissue to determine the impacts of provisioning on the trophic signatures and ranging behaviour of sharks in this population. A small number of large sharks monopolised more than 50% of the bait on offer. These ‘fed’ individuals showed significant ¹⁵N enrichment in their tissues compared to conspecifics of the same size that failed to obtain bait at the feeding site, and un-provisioned sharks from a control site. Despite the disparity in trophic signatures, fed, unfed and control sharks exhibited similar degrees of residency at their respective home receiver sites, and travelled similar daily minimum distances. Thus, despite long-term provisioning of this Caribbean reef shark population, there is no evidence for shifts in the behaviours considered which might affect the ecological role of these sharks. However, further research is required to examine potential indirect effects of shark provisioning on sympatric fauna and habitat before this activity can be placed within a sustainable marine conservation framework.     

Distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the bottom sediments of a dam reservoir,their interaction with organic matter and risk to benthic fauna

Journal of Soils and Sediments - The aims of the study were to investigate the interaction between fractions of organic matter and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in bottom sediments and to...     

Comparison of high definition oscillometric and Doppler ultrasound devices with invasive blood pressure in anaesthetized dogs

Objective To use the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) validation criteria to evaluate the performance of high definition oscillometric (HDO) and Doppler blood pressure measurement techniques against invasive blood pressure measurements in anaesthetized dogs. Study design Prospective clinical study. Animals Twenty client‐owned dogs. Materials and Methods Invasive blood pressure was measured using a catheter inserted into a pedal artery and an electronic transducer. The sites of cuff placement for the HDO measurements were the mid antebrachium or the proximal tail and, for the Doppler technique, the distal tibia. Agreement between invasive and non‐invasive blood pressure measurements was estimated by the Bland–Altman method. Results Only 10% and 34% of Doppler measurements were within 10 and 20 mmHg of invasive blood pressure values, respectively. The Doppler device failed to meet the ACVIM validation criteria for blood pressure measurement devices. The best agreement between HDO and invasive blood pressure measurement technique was observed for mean arterial blood pressure (MAP); 67% and 95% of readings were within 10 and 20 mmHg of invasive blood pressure values respectively. In addition, 52% and 87% of diastolic arterial blood pressure (DAP) measurements were within 10 and 20 mmHg of invasive readings. High definition oscillometric readings did not meet ACVIM recommended limits for SAP. Conclusion and clinical relevance The Doppler technique overestimated and the HDO device showed limited agreement with invasive blood pressure measurement in anaesthetized dogs. High definition oscillometry met most of the ACVIM requirements for MAP and DAP while the Doppler technique did not.     

Acoustic,mechanical and microstructural properties of extruded crisp bread

The aim of this work was to describe the texture and structure of crisp bread obtained with different extrusion parameters. The texture of different crisp bread samples was evaluated using a combination of acoustic and mechanical tests. The advantage of this measurement setup is the feasibility of simultaneous registering of the force–deformation characteristics, sounds (using an acoustic envelope detector coupled to the texture analyser with a microphone) as well as mechanical vibrations (registered using a piezoelectric sensor) generated during a penetration test. All analysed samples of bread were products with a crisp texture that emitted audible sounds with a significant intensity that could be registered with a microphone as well as with a contact method. Micro-CT cross-section images showed the highly porous structure of the crisp breads but variant 3 appeared to have thicker walls and larger cells than the other breads.     

Genetic variability of Polish tomato black ring virus isolates and their satellite RNAs

Tomato black ring virus (TBRV), a member of the Nepovirus genus, is a serious plant pathogen distributed worldwide. It causes significant damage to several economically important crops, such as artichoke or strawberry. The TBRV bipartite genome consists of two polyadenylated single-stranded positive-sense RNA molecules, which may be accompanied by subviral particles such as defective interfering RNAs (DI RNAs) and satellite RNAs (satRNAs). In this study, we obtained the complete genome sequence of six TBRV isolates originating from different hosts and determined the presence of eight TBRV satRNAs. Subsequently, genetic variability, recombination, phylogenetic and selection pressure analyses were performed. The results revealed that the TBRV population is genetically diverse. The occurrence of potential recombination events, evidence of positive selection pressure acting on particular codons and the diversification of satRNAs within the TBRV population indicated that the virus mutates and can rapidly adapt to new environmental conditions or hosts. The presented data shed some light on TBRV evolutionary dynamics and epidemiology.